Overall Catch Success Rate All Species Combined 82%
Numbers at a glance: Billfish 64%, Tuna 42%, Dorado 11%, Other 14%
BILLFISH: Before summer began
there was some trepidation as to how the “El Nino” current would affect
fishing, plus dire predictions for an active hurricane season. So far
the fears have been unfounded and in fact we are enjoyed some of the
best summer fishing in years. We don’t really have four seasons in
Cabo, its’ summer – hot from July to mid-October and then spring from
November to June, of course in varying degrees. Southern California has
also benefited from warmer than normal sea and air temperature and last
week we saw two blue marlin hung up in San Diego in the 300 to 650 lb.
class, unheard of in years. This report Cabo saw several days of rain
and a day when the Port Captain closed the port. There were up and down
days, with the down days tending to be after commercial tuna boats had
swept the area, but the plentiful days outnumbered the slow days with
billfish the most likely hook up. We had many outstanding catches and
are not able to mention them all, but Pisces Tracy Ann,
a 31 ft. Bertram, definitely gets the top boat award this report. On
October 1st South Carolina anglers Andrew Feix and Paul Long were out
with Captain Julio Castro aboard Tracy Ann and had travelled further
than most boats venture; they were out 42 miles but it was well worth
it. They managed to release two blue marlin, a striped marlin and what
appeared to be a white marlin – however, the consensus is that it was
probably a juvenile striped marlin, as white marlin are only found in
the Atlantic. Without a tissue sample it is impossible to tell, but the
anglers thought it better to release all their billfish. They did
however keep three tunas for the table. Now that’s an incredible day of
fishing! Next day out Tracy Ann had Minneapolis anglers Bradley and
Daniel Rhoades on board, along with Stephen Lawles they headed offshore
again this time 38 miles and again did well, releasing two blue marlin
and boating a 50 lb. tuna. Earlier in the week this same boat released a
blue marlin, sailfish, pilot shark and boated a dorado for Los Angeles
anglers Juden Valdez and Mike Revilla. Jason Allard and John Quillard
from Michigan headed out on La Brisa
towards the 95 spot; a nice blue marlin came up and inhaled two of the
live baits they had set out. The fish was a nice size at just over 300
lbs. This wasn’t the only nice blue, Bill Collector
a 32 ft. Cabo, released a 300 lb. blue marlin for Texas anglers Jeff
& John Black as well as boating three tuna up to 45 lbs. On
September 22nd this same boat released two sailfish, a striped marlin,
two pilot sharks and boated a dorado for Crystal and Jason from Apple
Valley, California. A really rare catch this week was a tiny baby
striped marlin, weighing no more than 10 lbs., it was safely released
aboard Tiburon by Edward Coleman and friends North Carolina September 26th, but this wasn’t the only one, Mike Hansen fishing aboard Adriana
also released a slightly bigger baby, around 15 lbs. just below San
Jaime. Larry and Deana Lybarger from Coco Beach, Florida had an
outstanding day aboard La Brisa
on September 21st – having a grand slam of a blue marlin, striped
marlin and two sailfish released, plus a tuna kept. These were some of
the best catches and we could go on and on. Of course we did have some
boats “skunked” but even those that didn’t catch at least saw fish.
Pisces anglers caught a total of 105 billfish, consisting of 39 striped
marlin, 18 blue marlin and 48 sailfish. All but three fish were
released.
OTHER SPECIES: Fewer boats
caught tuna than marlin or sailfish but when they did catch tuna the
numbers were better, with catches of up to fourteen yellowfin per boat.
Not only were they numerous many were of a good size. Pisces C Rod
was the only boat out on a rainy and stormy day (port was closed to all
boats under 38 feet) despite the weather they did really well for a
group of anglers from Georgia, catching twenty tuna ranging from 10 lbs.
all the way up to an impressive 171 lb. fish. Bill Collector
had a nice day for tuna 38 miles offshore, for Mark Chiavetta and
friends from San Jose, California; they managed to boat six tuna ranging
in size from 25 to 150 lbs. Worthy of mention also is Shambala’s
136 lb. tuna caught at San Jaime by Mark Moncilovic and friends. Pisces
anglers caught a total of 271 tuna this week. Dorado catches were on
the slow side with just 14 caught for our fleet. There were several
wahoo up to 50 lbs. as well as a few roosterfish snappers, skipjacks and
triggerfish.
LOCATION: Mostly Pacific from Land’s End to Golden Gate, San Jaime, 30-40 miles out, 95 spot.
WEATHER: Partly cloudy, hot, mostly calm seas, several rainy days.
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 86 F
BEST LURES: Live caballito, orange/black, blue/white, green/yellow, cedar plugs.
Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing by Tracy Ehrenberg.
